Hoax Spam E-mail Targets Students of Brooklyn Tech

Students at Brooklyn Technical High School (New York) received a hoax e-mail on January 3, 2010 supposedly sent by the assistant principal 'Marc Williams.' The message stated that it had been decided to keep the school closed till new notice issued, as reported by The New York Times on January 4, 2010.

The hoax e-mail stated that as many students know that some important constructions were going on at Brooklyn Tech to repair the school's base and to build a new swimming pool, an accident had occurred due to workers' mistake on January 1, 2010, which resulted into a severe safety problem; thus, everyone needed to stay away from the school's premises. The decision, therefore, to keep the school closed was imperative till the damages were repaired, the e-mail explained.

It further said that usually the school issued such notices through phone calls, but it wasn't possible because instruments were inside the premises.

Notably, the spoofed e-mail's grammar reflected too many errors; still students couldn't stop themselves believing that it was from the school's vice-principal. Besides, the sender's e-mail address showed that of the vice-principal.

Moreover, recipients of the e-mail, assuming that it was real, forwarded it to other students through various online channels that the tech-savvy school routinely used. Thus, it reached numerous students in minutes via e-mail, Twitter and Facebook. As this happened, administrators were compelled to make an announcement through the school website that classroom sessions were indeed being conducted.

However, on January 3, 2010, Randy J. Asher, the principal of Brooklyn Tech, became aware of the hoax e-mail. He arranged for phone-call notifications to the 4,900 students' families, saying that the institution wasn't closed. The same notice was posted on Facebook. E-mail notices were also distributed from the government authorities, according to spokeswoman Margie Feinberg representing the Department of Education, as reported by The New York Times on January 4, 2009.

The spokeswoman also said that if the culprit of the hoax e-mail would be identified, he would receive disciplinary action that could lead to a suspension.